“Alright, back to business it is. This was fun.” May cursed as she stepped out of the tub.
Jeremy followed her instantly.
The joy and lightness I’d felt moments ago felt like a candle that had puffed out. Change of timeline?
“So what was the lie?” John asked.
I turned, halfway out of the tub, my body steaming. I felt my nipples tighten as cold air hit them. I let my mouth slide into a smile that had gotten me countless phone numbers anddiscounts. Flirty, a little playful, at the edge of cruel. “I hate chocolate cake.”
I hid my shiver as I stepped into the snow that now reached my calf and looked at John over my shoulder.
“You coming?”
He readjusted the way he sat, trying hard not to look at me as I wrapped my steaming body in a towel.
“I…” he began, then cleared his throat. “I’ll be a minute.”
Was he… blushing?
His hand slipped into the water for a brief moment. He adjusted his seat.
“What?” he said when he noticed me staring.
Even though voices were yammering inside, and the cold was probably giving my ass frostbite, I couldn’t help but let a smug smile cross my face. Was John… flustered? By me? Had I just… won?
“Nothing.”
He took in a measured breath but didn’t say anything.
Ten minutes later, we all sat around the table.
Charlene fiddled with her glasses. “Alright, here’s the situation. The deadline is tomorrow at noon, as you know.
“But, and yes, there is a big but,” she sighed, and I tried not to be juvenile and smirk at her remark. I failed. “A rather unpleasant snowstorm is heading this way. This means we’ll have to pack up tonight and get out before it hits us.”
Her raised hands swiftly silenced the chorus of complaints. “I know, I know. We promised more time, but if this storm is as bad as they say, we won’t be able to get home tomorrow. And I have kids to attend to. Even if a snowstorm seems like a fantasticexcuse to take a weekend away from those tiny monsters so my husband can, for once, get up at the crack of dawn because mommy really needs to fucking sleep?—”
“You’re deviating,” said John.
She shook her head. “Sorry. So instead of having six solid hours tomorrow, I beg you, finish what you have and send your manuscript and blurb by ten tonight. Don’t worry if it isn’t polished; the editors are all aware that you had half a day of work cut. But…” She glanced at me. “Have your ending wrapped up. Your laptops have to be turned in and your stuff packed if we want to avoid being stranded out here.”
I caught John’s eyes. Stranded in a snowstorm with him? I couldn’t think of anything less appealing.
Chapter Fourteen
John is an X-Phile.
I’m a natural at electronics.
This mans hands feel like they do more than just write.
A movement through my bedroom window tore my attention away from my screen. My fingertips burned so much from frantic typing that I was surprised not to see them bloody when I finally stopped. I leaned back in my chair, watching the outline of a figure through the flurry of white. Judging by the poor visibility, the storm was hitting us soon. I compiled the manuscript, ready to attach it to the email that would decide the fate of my father’s bookstore.
But first, my nervous bladder forced me to vacate my seat. The sound of zippers being pulled and suitcases being dragged across the hallway floor filtered through the bathroom walls. An odd sense of agitation filled me. These five days had rushed past too fast. Had I really done everything I could? Would this beenough? I wondered who would be invited back. I crossed my fingers it would be me, May, and Jeremy.
May had offered to drop me off on her way home, me being the only one without a car. I was glad—the thought of Otis in a snowstorm…possibly coming off the road…I shook my head. Wouldn’t risk it.
I splashed water onto my face and then threw my cosmetics into a bag. As I opened the bathroom door, I nearly ran into a wall that hadn’t been there before.
